"What are you, chicken?" Pre-Quest Dialogue (Callum Mackay - 1700612)
Back to Moscow Hub Link to full quest. Hearing the rhythmic thud of wood being chopped echoing through the wilderness outside of Moscow, the player approaches the source of this almost abandoned-looking lumber mill. Getting closer and closer, they begin to make out the culprit of this noise - a largely built man with a sizeable unkempt beard and messy hair, clearly living in isolation. Absorbed by his work, it takes the man longer than it would usually take to notice someone approach inside your periphery. As the player character enters within earshot, the man finally realises is someone there. Visibly - though at the same time, somewhat mildly - surprised, he stops chopping the wood and speaks to the player in a deep, gravelly voice, with an accent that sounds much thicker and different to the people from Moscow city. "Ah, zdravstvuy, puteshestvennik! You catch me by surprise, visitors are few and far between out here, and the next collection of lumber is not for a few days still. Judging by the look of you, you're not the usual, uh, razboynik from the city here to cause trouble. Though I need to continue my work, it's been a while since I've spoken to someone. Here, let me tell you my story." He now continues cutting wood as he speaks, leading to awkward pauses in his speech as he focuses his strength on swinging the axe down. "Everyone has stories about where they were during the Re-Enchantment, but mine is especially strange. When the tragedy occurred, I remember running back home in a hurry to the house where I lived with my parents. To my surprise, the house was running too! Massive bird legs were extruding out the bottom as it clumsily ran through the wilderness. As I heard my parents screaming way above, inside of the house, I chased after it. I couldn't tell you what I planned to do if I caught up to it; to tell you the truth, I hadn't thought that far ahead. All I knew was that my parents were inside, and that I had to help them. I couldn't tell you how far or, or for how long I chased that thing - I ran until my body gave up, and I just couldn't continue running anymore. I've never felt so helpless as on that day, and that was the last I ever saw of my parents, or the house. After this, I went to the city to try and find out any information I could, but I never managed to get anywhere, and, uh... the city wasn't really for me. However, you certainly look well-travelled. Moscow is a dangerous place, but maybe you could try and gather any information you can from the locals? While it's true that I don't really have much out here, but I'd be sure to repay you in any way that I can. So what says it, puteshestvennik, would you be up to the task of helping me find out what exactly happened to my old house?" Here, the player is given a dialogue choice of either accepting, or politely declining the quest. Upon accepting: "Ah, you will? Excellent! Vsego dobrogo!" ''Upon declining: '' "Ah, I understand. No really, I do. It's a large thing I'm asking, and I wouldn't know where to begin myself. Do svidan'ya, and safe travels."